KAPA‘AU – The Hawaii Preparatory Academy football team defeated Kohala HS 24-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Ka Makani took the lead with a 14-point first quarter. Although the Cowboys shut HPA out in the second quarter, only allowing seven points in the third quarter and a field goal in the fourth, their offense was not able to keep up.
“It was a great team effort all the way around,” HPA head coach Lincoln Kalama said. “We finally got some support. Our running game and passing game were on point. We just played stellar, did a lot of good things.”
Now 7-2 on the season, HPA also finishes 2-0 against Kohala.
HPA and Kohala each have one remaining outing for the regular season – both of which will be highly decisive.
Ka Makani will end its season on Saturday at home, facing Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i. The pair’s last encounter ended in HPA’s worst loss of the season, 49-0.
Injuries played a great deal in that loss, as HPA was missing several starters.
“The last time we played (KSH) we didn’t have our whole offensive line,” Kalama said. “We had a younger kid, a sophomore filling in for a senior. We just gotta be focused and be prepared, (KSH is) a tough team.”
Ka Makani stands at No. 2 in BIIF DII, but will have to beat the Warriors (No. 1 at 10-0) in order to be able to play in the BIIF DII championship.
It has been a good season thus far for Ka Makani. Despite taking a narrow, 13-12 loss to Honoka‘a during the season opener, HPA bounced back to beat the Dragons 16-12 two weeks ago. Ka Makani is now riding a four-win streak – scoring 72 points and allowing zero between their last two games.
Kalama said that his team’s success and improvement this season can be attributed to the mental side of the game.
“It’s just the all around focus,” he said. “We were not being as focused as we could for high expectations. We’re rebuilding that and having the kids buy into our program, buy into our system and having them focus.”
The Cowboys will play away against Pahoa HS at the Kea‘au HS football field. Kohala is 0-9, and will look to fight its way into the win column before it’s too late.
A victory is certainly possible, as the Cowboys fell just 14-13 against the Daggers during their last encounter — more than a month ago.
Since then, Pahoa has lost several playmakers to injuries.